A Wife Pension may be paid to the female partner of an age or disability support pensioner who is not receiving any other income support payment in her own right. New grants of Wife Pension ceased after 30 June 1995.

Some 72.7% of wife pensioners are partners of disability support pensioners, while 27.3% are partners of age pensioners (source: Statistics - Tasmania as at 7/1/2003). Wife Pensioners are most likely to be found in Tasman local government area, with 12.4 recipients per 1,000 persons.

RECIPIENTS OF WIFE PENSION, Tasmanian local government areas(a)(b) - 1 June 2001

Recipients

Estimated resident population -as at 30 June 2001(c)

Local government area

no.

crude rate(d)(per 1,000 persons)

no.

median age

Greater Hobart-Southern

Brighton

120

9.3

12,915

29

Central Highlands

25

10.6

2,316

39

Clarence

228

4.6

49,594

38

Derwent Valley

84

9.0

9,373

36

Glamorgan/Spring Bay

38

9.6

3,989

45

Glenorchy

228

5.2

44,003

37

Hobart

71

1.5

47,446

36

Huon Valley

132

9.6

13,846

36

Kingborough

99

3.4

29,379

37

Sorell

83

7.5

11,004

36

Southern Midlands

62

10.7

5,730

36

Tasman

28

12.4

2,259

42

Total

1,199

5.2

231,854

37

Northern

Break O'Day

65

11.3

5,781

43

Dorset

62

8.5

7,339

37

Flinders

-

-

887

43

George Town

75

11.6

6,491

36

Launceston

274

4.4

62,335

36

Meander Valley

91

5.0

18,066

36

Northern Midlands

55

4.6

11,926

37

West Tamar

117

5.7

20,290

38

Total

739

5.6

133,115

37

Mersey-Lyell

Burnie

157

8.3

18,886

36

Central Coast

175

8.3

21,029

38

Circular Head

29

3.6

8,047

34

Devonport

209

8.6

24,257

38

Kentish

41

7.5

5,499

36

King Island

-

-

1,724

38

Latrobe

62

7.6

8,241

38

Waratah/Wynyard

132

9.7

13,627

37

West Coast

46

8.4

5,516

33

Total

851

8.0

106,826

37

Tasmania

2,789

5.9

471,795

37

- nil or rounded to zero(a) Data have been aggregated to local government areas from postcode data supplied by Centrelink. Consequently, some figures have been rounded.(b) Small area data in this table has been confidentialised. Totals for Tasmania may differ to those published in Statistics - Tasmania.(c) Source: ABS data available on request, Population by Age and Sex.(d) This is a crude rate only. It has not been adjusted to take into account the population eligible to receive payment. Therefore, care should be taken when interpreting figures.